A hard time for clothing and shoe purchasers: Inflation continues to rise

A hard time for clothing and shoe purchasers: Inflation continues to rise

Tuesday’s data from the Office for National Statistics indicate inflation is on the rise again; 2.9% growth in consumer prices in the year to August (compared to 2.6% growth in the year to July).

Main drivers for this increase were higher prices for clothing and footwear alongside an increase of several pence on petrol and diesel prices. The former probably relates to the impact of depreciation of sterling leading to higher import prices. Fuel prices reflect changes in the global market and, given the impact of hurricanes on the US oil sector, a further increase in monthly inflation is possible in next month’s figures too.

In summary, just about managing is getting harder- consumer prices are running ahead of annual wage and salary growth. As the Ulster University Economic Policy Centre has argued, this is likely to continue to depress the economic growth rate- whether at the Northern Ireland or UK level.